Healthy Green Bean Casserole

Healthy Green Bean Casserole

2 Reviews

From: EatingWell Magazine, November/December 2011

Typical green bean casseroles bathe ingredients in a heavy cream sauce and top them with buttered breadcrumbs or cheese. Our healthier version saves about 160 calories and 12 grams of saturated fat compared to a traditional recipe.

Preparation

Active

50 m

Ready In

1 h

Position racks in upper and lower third of oven; preheat to 425°F.

Toss green beans in a large bowl with 1 tablespoon oil until well coated. Divide between 2 baking sheets and spread in an even layer. Roast, stirring once and rotating the pans top to bottom about halfway through, until tender and beginning to brown, 20 to 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring frequently, until very soft and golden brown, 5 to 8 minutes. Add flour, salt and pepper; cook, stirring, for 1 minute more. Add milk and continue to stir, scraping up any browned bits. Cook, stirring, until the sauce bubbles and thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 4 minutes. Remove from the heat. (See Tips)

When the green beans are done, remove from the oven. Preheat the broiler.

Transfer half the green beans to a 2-quart, broiler-safe baking dish. Spread half the sauce over the green beans. Add the remaining green beans and top with the remaining sauce.

Combine breadcrumbs and the remaining 1 tablespoon oil in a small bowl (skip this step if you are topping with cheese).

Sprinkle the breadcrumb mixture (or cheese) over the gratin. Place under the broiler and broil, watching closely, until the gratin is bubbling and beginning to brown on top, 1 to 5 minutes, depending on your broiler. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Make Ahead Tip: Roast green beans (Step 2) up to 30 minutes ahead. Prepare the sauce (Step 3), cover and refrigerate for up to 1 day; gently reheat until steaming before combining with the green beans.

Tips:
To make your own fresh breadcrumbs, trim crusts from whole-wheat bread. Tear bread into pieces and process in a food processor until coarse crumbs form. One slice of bread makes about ½ cup fresh breadcrumbs.

To add extra flavor to the cream sauce, at the end of Step 3 stir in 1 tablespoon chopped fresh herbs, such as thyme, sage or parsley. Or make it cheesy by stirring in ½ cup shredded or crumbled cheese, such as Gruyère, Swiss, Cheddar or blue cheese.

Keep food fresh: If you're storing food in your fridge for a few hours or more, it's best to keep it in an airtight container or in a container covered tightly with foil. Foil is best at creating a barrier that doesn't let unwanted flavors in (or out) while you store your food.

Reviews 2

I stumbled across this review with 30 minutes to table time on Thanksgiving Day. I had a bag of whole frozen green beans, no time to roast them, and none of the traditional green bean casserole ingredients. While the beans were steaming, I made the sauce per recipe. The only change I made at the end was to use half the amount of gluten free bread crumbs (all I had) mixed with 1/2 cup thinly sliced almonds. The casserole baked until bubbly and toasty brown on top-with 1 minute to spare. Needless to say, that dish was scraped completely clean before everyone got seconds, and three people asked me for the recipe. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

November 15, 2013

By: EatingWell User

Great alternative to unhealthy traditional green bean casserole!
I was skeptical to try this recipe at first because of the lack of reviews and popularity, but I am so glad I did! It was delicious! It is very similar to traditional green bean casserole, only made with real ingredients and a GREAT healthy alternative! If you don't like crunchy green beans you can steam them instead of roasting them. I recommend this recipe and it will be featured in this year's Eat Smart Move More Maintain don't gain Holiday Challenge!